Some businesses are obsessed with the idea of fostering creativity – that quantification-defying spark that can give life to advertising and direction to marketing campaigns. Creativity can also be important in companies’ use of promotional products. It’s the difference between the indiscriminately gifted promotional tradeshow pen and the engaging company-sponsored scavenger hunt for customers, where promotional pens and notebooks are just the tool for an engaging marketing strategy.
Experts and businesses often debate, profess and muse on the possible ways to generate creativity among employees. Forbes recently published an article expounding on the creative virtues of city life for startups, arguing that heightened diversity, communication and collaboration lead to success.Yet, companies may not need to move to a city to harness out-of-the-box thinking, and other proposed ideas include everything from changing office layout to banishing meetings. Many of these creative solutions could even help companies think up new and interesting ways to utilize promo items. Here is a look at some of the more recent suggestions for generating that spark:
The new age approach
Sometimes businesses can get the creative juices flowing by loosening the proverbial tie and experimenting with some of the rote aspects of office employment. Inc. Magazine highlighted a few different aspects of traditional office policy and how they can be changed to encourage and not hinder people.
Possibly the most difficult for employers to accept would be the decision to grant unlimited vacation days. It may seem absurd to some, but the magazine insisted that unlimited vacation grants the freedom of control, the possibility to travel and the opportunity to create a more productive work schedule than the current, grinding 5-days-a-week approach. Employees are still held accountable, and there isn’t likely to be a lot of abuse of the policy on their end. Other suggested tactics included letting employees work remotely, shortening meetings and getting rid of department goals.
In effect, these policies create breathing room for staff by removing the yoke of burdensome bureaucracy. While it may require some finesse to implement these strategies fairly and intelligently, they could also create a better work environment. They also may help in brainstorming new ideas for promotional products.
Applying to giveaways
Many promotional items are things that people will hopefully use on a daily basis in order to remind users of a business’ worth as well as their thoughtfulness of consumer’s needs. When people think of uses for a pen, they might think of jotting down grocery lists, taking notes or leaving messages. Flash drives may be used for storing and transferring data. These are obvious functions that might be of use to consumers, but they’re not really engaging. Given that consumer engagement is one of those common business buzzwords, companies that fail to make their promotional products part of a more engaging marketing strategy are missing out on a golden opportunity.
Marketers and advertisers looking for new ways to employ promotional items could possibly benefit by letting employees step outside of the meeting room a little more often. The idea of an unlimited vacation may not just boost satisfaction among workers, but it might invite them to think of new ways to pitch product. A staff member that has recently taken a flight, for example, may think up some form of travel preparedness kit for jet-setting businessmen, which could include plenty of conventional promotional giveaways. Someone allowed to work at home may be more attuned to the demands of domestic life and the potential value in products marketed for the home. The value of giveaways are based in everyday experiences, and sometimes it looking beyond the office is the best way to get in tune with them.